@patrickdunleavy.bsky.social Do you think Starmer can survive the Olly Robbins appearance at the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee? In more normal times, I'd say no but would welcome your opinion.
Another reason never to buy on Amazon unless there really is no alternative. #prices #algorithm #ripoff washingtonmonthly.com/2026/04/20/h...
Never forget Henry Ford's famous words, frequently used in Sociology and Political Science courses as Year 1 essay questions in the element asking 'Who rules in US society?' - "'What's good for Ford is good for America'. Explain and discuss."
A bit late for 1st April ....
Surprise, surprise. "People, it turns out, hate being ripped off and resent having their time wasted." And the online world and chatbots cost us, the consumer, many billions of $$$s a year, much of which goes the businesses who tell you they value your custom. #AI
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/12/b...
The cruelty is part of the plan and something many of those involve in the process seem to enjoy - indeed - revel in.
It'd be good for Musk et al, though, wouldn't it so that's all right ...
Agree entirely. I was simply musing that one of the unanticipated consequences of the rise of GenAI in the workplace might be to start to undo the increasingly prevalent idea that Higher Education is simply about job training and getting employment. There are other, equally important, purposes to HE
Will GenAI save the Humanities & Social Sciences? If AI is going to remove the entry-level jobs graduates currently head into (including jobs in AI & coding etc) will students start studying subjects for their own sake & enjoyment not simply for a job? #AcademicSky #PhDSky #university #sociology
Ever wondered what part #serendipity plays in a #PhD? Here's my first stab at an answer and I'm still working on it. #AcademicSky #PhDSky www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...
A good read. I chaired a conference at which a keynote speaker said, 'The best advice I can give to someone starting out in life is to make sure you're born to someone rich.' Was true then and remains true today. #meritocracy #equity #lifechances
Half and half. Days off, including sometime mental health leave days, provide a space where I can get on with some serious and not so serious catch-up work without anyone expecting me to to immediately answer any emails. Academia is increasingly about managing sanity! Welcome to higher education!!
Apparently he can sit in the public gallery, like everyone else.
Welcome to 1st April, the day on which you've got the hard task of deciding what's real news about what politicians the world over are doing, and what's an April Fool's Joke. Its got a lot harder than the days of patting your school chum on the back with a hand full of chalk hidden in your palm!
Some kind person's made a short video of the 2024 iteration of the conference I've helped organise and convened every two years since 2012. Keeping my fingers crossed that the 2026 Quality in Postgraduate Research Conference QPR goes just as well! #QPR2026
www.linkedin.com/posts/qualit...
And back to you too, Michael. The battle cry of the McCulloch clan in days gone bye ... "Hoo Noo Broon (with a tinge of red) Coo!!"
AGL, my gas supplier has just told us we're being moved from quarterly to monthly billing to 'simplify budgeting' but the existing $12 late payment fee will apply to any late monthly payments. So that's 8 more chances a year #AGL will have to collect a late fee from me. @australiainstitute.org.au
An interesting piece which deserves to be read on political science and sociology courses when they deal with elites. #Epstein #darkconnector www.nytimes.com/2026/03/30/o...
IMHO, appalling on top of appalling.
Waiting to see the doctor today (routine), a family came in & sat opposite me. They gave their about 3-4 year old boy a hardback book &, instead of opening it he began to stab at its cover as though it was an iPad. Fortunately, they opened it for him & he seemed to enjoy what he found! :-) :-) :-)
But its what God would have wanted ... Always remember, Scotty has a direct line ... Just like the Ayatollahs have.
And the phrase 'in an area' carries a lot of weight in the policy's implementation. If it said 'a street', maybe. It says area ... mmmm? Local authority area? Parish council area? School area? A godsend for Farage if that goes through. Bad policy is bad politics (to coin a phrase).
That would be a shame.
Hell of a movie that. Saw it when it first came out and still remember its impact!
Your occasional reminder that, if your Friday's draining the last dregs of your physical and emotional batteries away, this video contains 19 minutes of the most beautiful, uplifting and relaxing music I've ever come across. #music #relax #beauty #wellbeing www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkDL...
Should that not be compulsory? #bots
I think this is one of the occasions when waiting for some real votes to be counted may well be the best strategy!
It seems to me that the contemporary mass media can't cope with more than one major war at a time. It has to choose & today it has an Iran focus that's excluding real coverage of what's going on in Lebanon, & when was the last time Russia-Ukraine (1 million+ dead and injured) was on the front page?